


If Only for a Second

by Marks



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Love Triangles, M/M, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 20:32:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12066474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marks/pseuds/Marks
Summary: “You know what you did,” Nishinoya said, poking Hinata in the chest. His voice was still loud and the sounds of practice started to die away as other people noticed what they were up to. “You know that you’re never supposed to get a girlfriend before your senpai!”Hinata was frowning and saying, “All of them?” but the blood in Kageyama’s ears started rushing at the wordgirlfriend. Something in his stomach flipped, and he felt like he needed to sit down.





	If Only for a Second

**Author's Note:**

> So [horchata](http://archiveofourown.org/users/horchata) and I decided to do a mutual prompt for Kagetsuki day! Because we're lazy, we picked an unfilled SASO prompt, which was gionkenji/2ndcalling's prompt ["You're not Hinata"](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/25713.html?thread=15909233#cmt15909233).
> 
> I couldn't decide if I wanted to go angsty or porny, so I kind of wound up with fluff. Marks-typical.

“Shouyou, this is bullshit!” 

Practice was noisy, as usual, but that didn’t matter. Kageyama was good at tuning stuff out when volleyball was involved. But even he couldn’t ignore Nishinoya jumping all around and swearing at Hinata. His head swiveled around, and a second later, a ball dropped from somewhere and thumped against the side of his head. Tsukishima started snickering, but Kageyama didn’t even look at him. He didn’t usually make a habit of looking at Tsukishima anyway.

“I’m sorry, Noya-senpai,” Hinata said. Then, he scratched his head. “Wait, what did I do?”

“You know what you did,” Nishinoya said, poking Hinata in the chest. His voice was still loud and the sounds of practice started to die away as other people noticed what they were up to. “You know that you’re never supposed to get a girlfriend before your senpai!”

Hinata was frowning and saying, “All of them?” but the blood in Kageyama’s ears started rushing at the word _girlfriend_. Something in his stomach flipped, and he felt like he needed to sit down.

“Are you all right, Kageyama?” Yamaguchi asked suddenly, and his voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel. Kageyama didn’t answer. “Tsukki, help me out here.”

Tsukishima started to say, “Why should I –” but abruptly cut himself off. Kageyama didn’t know why, maybe Yamaguchi kicked him, only Yamaguchi never kicked Tsukishima even when he needed to be kicked. The next thing he knew, he had his arms looped over Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s shoulders and Tsukishima had his arm around his waist. They both helped him over to the sidelines and into a folding chair. 

Kageyama put his head between his knees and took a couple of deep breaths. This was stupid. _He_ was stupid. Hinata getting a girlfriend was no big deal; it wasn’t like it meant they wouldn’t play volleyball together anymore, it just meant he had a girlfriend. And Kageyama never had a chance anyway. Obviously. If that wasn’t clear before, it sure was now. 

“Here,” Tsukishima said a minute later. Kageyama looked up. Tsukishima was thrusting out a water bottle and not looking at him. He looked a little red in the face, but he had just been practicing. Kageyama probably looked pretty red in the face, too.

“Thanks,” Kageyama said cautiously and took the bottle and drank. “Good water,” he said, which seemed like a stupid way to describe water, but it was true. Kageyama liked water to be ice cold, and this was, even though the cooler the volleyball team used was always too warm. 

Tsukishima shrugged. “I get ice from the cafeteria before coming to practice.”

Kageyama looked at the bottle and saw that Tsukishima’s name was written down the side.

“I didn’t drink from it yet,” Tsukishima said defensively, even though Kageyama hadn’t said anything. “Are you all right now?” he asked after a second.

“I think so,” Kageyama said, and sat up all the way. Yeah, he was okay again. Not dizzy, not about to fall over, not about to fall apart because Hinata was dating someone. He took another drink.

Hinata bounced up to them then, and gave him a huge grin. “What are you doing sitting around, Kageyama? Finally ready to admit I’m better than you?”

Kageyama growled and threw the water bottle down. “Like hell you are!” he shouted, and ran out onto the court.

*

Second year wasn’t that different from first year. More people recognized Kageyama for his volleyball now, and he got teased for a week when _Volleyball Monthly_ gave him a paragraph-long blurb in their back-to-school issue. But he still went to practice, he still got mad when the vending machine gave him green tea instead of milk, and he still sucked ass when it came to Japanese literature.

Kageyama headed over to Hinata’s classroom during their lunch break. “Yachi-san said she’d help me for exams. You coming?”

Hinata glanced from Kageyama to the girl sitting in the seat next to his. She had dark hair cut right under her chin, wide eyes, and a friendly face. Kageyama thought she was pretty, as far as girls went. “Kageyama, this is Miwa-chan! Um! Otsuka-san.” Hinata and the girl looked at each other and grinned shyly. “My girlfriend,” he added unnecessarily. “We’re having lunch together today.” That’s when Kageyama noticed their matching bentos.

Kageyama pressed his lips together and tried not to frown. That would be unfair and mean. “Nice to meet you,” he said and nodded his head. “See you at practice, Hinata.” He said that last part while sprinting out the door and only made it about two doors down before he had to lean up against the hallway wall to figure out how to breathe again. Kageyama squeezed his eyes shut. It was like his feelings were an ocean wave and he was protecting himself from the crest.

“What are you doing out here?” a voice said. Kageyama opened his eyes and found Tsukishima there.

“Where did you come from?” Kageyama asked. 

Tsukishima gave him an _are you an idiot?_ look and gestured behind him, at the bathrooms. 

_Oh._ Kageyama closed his eyes again. “Leave me alone,” he said.

“Where’s your other half?” Tsukishima said, because apparently his ears were broken. Kageyama felt it when Tsukishima came over to stand next to him against the wall, even though they weren’t touching anywhere. It was weird, kind of like how Kageyama knew where everyone on the court was at all times, even when he wasn’t looking at them.

“Having lunch with his girlfriend,” Kageyama growled. The words sounded so fucking angry coming out his mouth, and he braced himself for Tsukishima to make fun of him. Maybe he kind of wanted that, someone to point out how ridiculous he was being. Something else to focus on.

But all stupid Tsukishima said was, “Oh,” and then a second later, “Well, before I left, Yachi-san was already waiting for you. Let’s not waste any more of her time.”

Kageyama frowned because he didn’t understand why Tsukishima was being so nice to him and also because he was right. “Okay,” he said, and followed Tsukishima to the college prep classrooms.

*

When Kageyama walked into the clubhouse that afternoon, Tanaka had Hinata in a headlock. He was rubbing his knuckles against Hinata’s bright hair and ignoring Hinata’s pained protests.

“Hinata, your girlfriend is so _cute_ ,” said Tanaka, grinning widely and ignoring Kageyama as he pushed his way over to his cubby. “Your favorite senpai’s so proud of you!”

“Fuck off, Ryuu. _I’m_ his favorite senpai,” Nishinoya said.

“No, I am!”

“No, me!”

“Kill me,” someone muttered, and Kageyama silently agreed. He looked over to see who it was and met Tsukishima’s eyes. They smirked at each other, almost a reflex on Kageyama’s part, but the weird, tense knot that had been in Kageyama’s chest all afternoon loosened a little.

“Tanaka-san, I can’t breathe,” Hinata said in a choked voice. He sucked in a relieved breath of air when Tanaka let him go, then choked again when Tanaka cheerfully asked, “So how far have two you gotten? Doing your senpai proud?”

The knot yanked again, quick and hard, like two giants each grabbed an end of Kageyama’s heart strings and took off running in opposite directions.

“Don’t we have practice?” Tsukishima asked, sounding more bored than Kageyama had ever heard him, which was pretty impressive, all things considered. “I wonder what Ennoshita-san will say if we all show up late because we were gossiping.”

Tanaka jumped on Tsukishima and put _him_ in a headlock. “Tsukishima, you’re the wo-o-o-o-orst, you know that?” he sing-songed, but he pulled Tsukishima right along with him as he left the clubhouse. Everyone else followed them, leaving Kageyama all alone. 

He caught himself smiling down at his shoes, and didn’t really understand why.

*

After practice, Kageyama walked down to the Sakanoshita and ate a meatbun, but he didn’t feel like hanging around with everyone like he usually did. He didn’t even really say goodbye, just sort of started wandering off in the direction of his house.

“Wait up,” he heard someone call out after a minute, and he turned around to find Tsukishima jogging after him. 

_What the hell?_ Kageyama thought, but he did stop and wait. “Don’t you usually walk home with Yamaguchi?” he asked. He scratched his head. “And, uh, live in the opposite direction?”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima said, which Kageyama guessed technically answered his questions. 

Then Tsukishima started walking in the direction of Kageyama’s house again, and Kageyama wasn’t about to have to jog to catch up with _him_ , so he started walking, too. They just walked together in silence for a while, the only sounds their feet shuffling along the path and the night rising up all around them.

“So,” Tsukishima said, after such a long time that Kageyama actually jumped in surprise, “when did you know?”

Kageyama glanced sideways and wrinkled up his forehead. “Know what?”

Tsukishima looked pained, another one of his _god, this idiot_ faces. “Know, um –” He scowled and jammed his hands into his pockets. “You know. That you liked the other stupid one.”

It took a lot of effort not to stop in his tracks and slug Tsukishima. For once, he didn’t deserve it. He wasn’t being much of an ass, and it wasn’t like he was _wrong_.

“I don’t know. A long time, I guess,” Kageyama said eventually. “I’m not happy about it.”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima said and sighed, and sounded very much like he knew exactly what Kageyama meant. “So,” he said again, “is it just Hinata, or are you – do you like other – do you think you could like other –” Tsukishima stopped walking and swore under his breath. “This was a dumb idea.” He let out a funny little laugh. “I’m so far away from my house. See you tomorrow, Your Highness.”

Tsukishima started to turn around then, but Kageyama acted on instinct, like he so often did, and grabbed him by the wrist. That seemed to shock them both and they stayed standing there, staring at each other for a minute. Kageyama thought the light from the night sky illuminated Tsukishima’s face in a way that almost made him look pretty. His eyes were huge behind his glasses and he was hardly moving, hardly breathing, as if waiting to see what Kageyama would do next.

“No,” Kageyama said. “Ask what you were going to ask.”

Tsukishima swallowed hard enough that Kageyama could see his throat bob. “Kageyama,” he said in a shaky voice, “is it just Hinata, or do you think you could like other guys?”

Kageyama knew what Tsukishima was going to ask – of course he did, he could be dumb, but he wasn’t _that_ dumb – and the truth was he’d never given it much thought. His crush on Hinata came on so swiftly and overwhelmed him with the sheer force of it, and it made him happy and miserable all at once. Kageyama almost didn’t want to ever feel like that ever again. Having all those feelings and not knowing where to put them was one of the hardest things he’d ever experienced.

But then again, he was standing under the stars with another guy right now, and he still had his fingers wrapped around Tsukishima’s wrist.

After a long time, Kageyama said tentatively, “I think maybe I could.” 

He let go of Tsukishima’s wrist and let Tsukishima walk him the rest of the way home.

*

A couple of weeks later, Hinata invited his girlfriend to watch their practice. She cheered at all their good plays, and called Hinata lazy when he biffed a serve. Kageyama found himself smiling at her before he could even think about it, and Otsuka beamed brightly back. No wonder Hinata liked her; it was like the sun found another sun.

While they were getting changed after practice, Hinata said, “Do you want to come with us to get dinner, Kageyama? Otsuka’s mom owns a ramen shop!”

Kageyama glanced across the clubhouse. Tsukishima wasn’t looking at them, but he was spending an awful long time buttoning up his shirt.

“Nah,” Kageyama said, shaking his head. “Not today.”

He overheard Tsukishima telling Yamaguchi to go on without him.

“Another time, okay?” asked Kageyama.

“Sure!” Hinata grinned at him, and Kageyama waited. Waited for his heartbeat to speed up. Waited for his stomach to flip over. Waited for the wave of feeling to knock him off his feet. But nothing happened. 

Well, nothing happened until fifteen minutes later, when the only people left in the clubhouse were Tsukishima and him. Tsukishima pushed him up against the door to kiss him, and when he tried to pull away, Kageyama grabbed him by the front of his shirt to kiss him again.

And his heartbeat sped up plenty then.


End file.
